PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today reserved judgment in the appeal by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to have former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram removed as the lead prosecutor in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) cases.
A three-member panel, comprising Justices Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Lau Bee Lan, reserved judgment after hearing submissions from the prosecution and defence.
Najib had appealed against the decision of High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah who, on March 1, dismissed his application to disqualify Sri Ram as the senior DPP.
Judge Sequerah found no evidence to show that Sri Ram will be biased in handling the case. He also held that Najib has no right to demand Sri Ram’s letter of appointment.
The judge had also dismissed Najib’s application to temporarily suspend the trial which is scheduled to commence on May 14, pending disposal of the appeal.
At the Court of Appeal hearing today, DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib submitted that Najib will not be deprived of a fair trial with Sri Ram as the lead prosecutor and that Sri Ram will not be the sole DPP appearing for the Public Prosecutor in the trial.
Najib is facing four counts under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and 21 counts of money laundering involving 1MDB funds, amounting to RM2.28 billion. He is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd, No. 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, between 2011 and 2014.
Ahmad Akram said: “On record, there are with Sri Ram eight other DPPs from the Attorney-General’s Chambers who form part of the prosecution team.”
He said Sri Ram is only the senior DPP and he is not the judge in the case.
“As DPPs, we have a duty to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt,” he said, adding that the defence team is afraid of its own shadow.
He also submitted that Najib was represented by a team of very capable counsel of his own choice.
“If the prosecution wants to play dirty or suppress evidence, which we will not, the appellant (Najib) is handled by a team of prominent and good lawyers led by Tan Sri (Muhammad) Shafee (Abdullah) himself.
“They are competent to defend the appellant in the trial and to advice the appellant accordingly throughout the case. How can then deprivation of his constitutional rights to a fair trial occur?” he asked.
Ahmad Akram said the allegation that Sri Ram supervises the criminal investigation and conducts criminal prosecution culminating from such investigation was made without basis.
“The re-investigation of this case started in May 2018. The appointment of Sri Ram as a senior DPP was only made in August the same year. Thus, the allegation that Sri Ram has interfered with the investigations is unfounded,” the DPP said.
He also submitted that there is nothing wrong with a DPP supervising an investigation and being involved in the prosecution of the same case.
“Supervising will include the act of a DPP giving out instructions and advice on legal matters, for example, preservation of evidence, the trail of documents, advice on what is and what is not admissible and so on,” he said.
Earlier, lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, representing Najib, submitted that Sri Ram viewed his client as someone who is guilty.
He said a fair-minded person would perceive that Sri Ram is not detached and not objective and, therefore, not an appropriate prosecutor in Najib’s case.
“On Sept 20 last year, while making his case in objecting bail for the appellant, he (Sri Ram) said ‘the conduct of the accused described by the Attorney-General of the United States was that it was the worse kleptocracy in the world and this is a case of theft, unparalleled,‘” he said. — Bernama
